An uneventful OB appointment (in a good way!)

Yesterday we had a follow up OB appointment. The doctor was very specifically looking to see if the small bleed area was gone - we were all happy to see that it was indeed all healed! Everything looked great. Because she was looking for something so specific, she didn't really spend time to show us the babies very much. I never get tired of seeing them so I was kind of bummed! We only really saw the tops of their heads and them moving around a little, but no full body shots, or faces, or anything. I guess we'll just have to be patient and wait for August 4th - the day of the BIG ultrasound where they are supposed to tell the genders for sure and they do all the anatomical measurements to check for any abnormalities. We get tons of ultrasounds since they are twins and were conceived through IVF, but most people only get a couple - this big one being one of them.

As a side note, we have a few new baby things from friends! J picked up a couple of really cute little bibs - one that looks like a monkey face and one that is a lion face. A friend from church gave us 3 little baby "chunky" books that she said were her son's favorite when he was little. Another friend of mine gave us two cute bath duckies that have heat sensors on the bottom (to make sure the water is OK) - they are sitting in the bathtub ready to go! :)

This weekend I finished making a comprehensive baby budget/list of everything we need. I think we'll wait for the big ultrasound on the 4th and then start getting some stuff! I can't wait!

We made our first baby purchase!

When you are trying to conceive and can't, there is no place more harmful to the spirit than Babies R Us. The last time I was there was in May of 2006 when I had to buy a gift for a friend's baby shower and it was so depressing that I vowed never to go back. Well, this weekend I made a triumphant return - this time with B - to make our first baby purchase!

I've been too scared to buy anything to date, and I still don't want to buy anything big, but I just had to buy SOMETHING. We have, after all, made it to the second trimester so we should at least celebrate that! Of course, we didn't buy anything that was critical, it was just symbolic value. We are now the proud owner of a package of 5 green and yellow onesies (those one piece t-shirt things with snaps at the bottom to cover the diaper) and 6 Winnie the Pooh bibs. :) It was exciting to say the least to have the occasion to buy something that OUR babies will actually use.

Here is the funny part: I realized later that the bibs are large feeding bibs for when babies eat solid foods several months later! LOL But they sure are cute. I just LOVE seeing all these characters from my own childhood. It makes me soooo happy. I then embarked on a massive search for nursery themes on Sunday (online) but amazingly there aren't too many that are cute and gender neutral (for a boy and a girl). If we really do have a boy and girl, I may have to get creative. :)

Our next appointment is on Monday.

Some first hand training with kids

Since J was instructed to take it easy for a few days given the scare, I went over yesterday to play with the kids while R was at work. I have done VERY little "babysitting" in my life, and haven't changed diapers since I was about 14 (with the exception of 1 diaper while J was on bedrest in April). Well, I'm happy to report I changed 3 diapers yesterday, including a "stinky" one! J was there and was laughing because I had no idea what to do when I first saw the "situation". But, she talked me through it and all was well. :) I had fun playing the kids all day. They are really, really sweet. J says they were especially well behaved but I was amazed at how well they listen to everything. She tells them to pick something up and they actually pick up! Incredible for a 2 and 3 year old.

I had to get back to work today so B went over for the morning to do the same. I can't wait to hear how it goes. There was a look of terror in his eyes at the thought of changing a diaper this morning. :)

Our first perinatologist appointment - AND genders(?)

If you have been reading for a while, you may remember my posts about all the confusion with whether we would get to see a "peri" (high risk pregnancy doctor) or just a regular OB for the duration of the pregnancy. We wanted to see a peri just because it's twins and it would be great to know we are in the most knowledgable hands (not that an OB isn't great also). There was a bunch of back and forth with Kaiser over whether or not that would be possible because twins alone doesn't make you high risk anymore (lots of people with twins!). The last we heard, we were getting the referral but they never called. Ironically, just after our scare, J got the call that there was a cancellation and we got in today at 1! Yes - the third apppointment and ultrasound in a week! (I never get tired of seeing those little babies on the screen, so it's fine by me...I just feel bad for it taking so much of J's time.)

The peri said everything looked great and that we don't need to worry about the spotting (unless something changes). J hasn't had any more bleeding at all so that is great. The Dr said it is pretty common to have some bleeding, especially with twins. She said there are too many twins for the two peris in our area to see them for every appointment, but that we will alternate appointments between the peri and the OB. Sounds great to me! Best of both worlds. We got some great views of the babies and this doctor was more willing to hazard a guess on the genders. In fact, she really looked unlike the other doctor...she said she is 60-70% sure that it is a boy and a girl!!! Of course I'm ecstatic at the possibility but I know things could change. J and I both thought she was more sure than she let on because she sounded very confident and we saw exactly what she was looking at on the screen...seemed pretty clear in both cases. The BIG ultrasound where they check everything over and tell you definitively (well as much as possible) will be August 4. In the meantime, we found out that we now have appointments every other week! Holy cow we have a lot coming up.

Here are pics from today!

Now I remember what the problem was called...

It's a separation of the amnion and chorion. Apparently they fuse between 14 and 16 weeks and we are just at the beginning of that. Of course I've been doing all kinds of research online now and am WAY more freaked out. Waaayyyy more freaked out. Please pray for our babies. :(

We had a scare this morning...

Ironically, after finally announcing the news to everyone via email last night, we had our first scare this morning. J woke up and found some bright red blood when she went to the bathroom. It wasn't a ton, but enough to be of concern. Thank God for our home doppler...she and R immediately used it to confirm the babies were still alive and the hearts were beating as normal. Luckily, we had a doctor's appointment scheduled this morning first thing anyway. This was the first time with the doctor we will probably see regularly going forward. She was really nice, which was great to find. She did all kinds of exams on J and everything looks fine. Apparently there are two parts to a placenta and they don't fuse until 16 weeks. Sometimes the gap between the two parts can cause a little bleeding? I didn't quite understand but she did see a little separation there, where the parts hadn't fused and she thought that was the cause of the bleed. She asked J to lie around for a few days and not lift the kids until the end of the pregnancy! Yikes. (That was regardless of the bleed - just her policy I guess.) She said she would probably bleed for the next couple of days and to expect that. B and I will go over the next two days to help J with the kids so she can take it easy.

Amazingly, I'm not overly freaked out about this. I know from reading message boards for so long that a lot of people have little bleeding incidents like this and that this far along it's usually not serious. Of course, it's still stressful and I was far more stressed before we saw the doctor, but I do feel it will be OK. We got to have another ultrasound this morning because of the whole scare and the babies were moving like crazy! For some reason the ultrasound was really, really clear and we could see the spines on both of them and their features more than ever before. It kind of helped me forget the scare this morning because I was so fascinated by what they were doing on screen! The one usually elusive baby was still more calm, but the other one moved everywhere and we all commented that "he" has REALLY long legs! LOL So, after realizing the doctor wasn't concerned about the bleeding, I had to ask the question: can you tell us the genders this time? The elusive baby wasn't in a good position, but little long legs sure looks to be a boy. Now the question is, did we see a boy the other day and again a boy today for the same baby, or did we see a boy for both babies at this point?! It was pretty clear today that one is a boy, complete with B's legs. :)

Even though the scare looks to be OK, prayers would really be appreciated! We have another appointment in 2 weeks.

14 Week Ultrasound

We're back from vacation! It was a great time, but we were also ready to be home. We got home at 1 am last night and had an ultrasound scheduled for first thing this morning. Fortunately we slept a lot on the plane. :)

One of the coolest things about being gone was that we left when we were about 12 1/2 weeks along and got back right when we turned 14 weeks - we're now officially in the second trimester! That's so exciting because I do finally feel that we can relax. In fact, I just got done writing a very long email announcement that will go to all of our friends to break the big news. It was amazing to write that email; I never thought I would see the day. I really believe the babies are coming now and couldn't be more thrilled. While on vacation I spent a lot of time reading the entire "what to expect in the first year" book. It was so much fun to learn about all the poop and bottles. Did I just say that? Seriously, I'm getting so excited.

We had the ultrasound this morning and everything looked great. The babies are measuring ahead now by a few days. They looked like little babies for the first time too rather than tiny little beans! We all "ooed" and "ahhed" a couple of times when one baby waved his/her hand and then another time moved the leg to a perfect position for the picture. When they move all around you don't necessarily see distinct body parts but in those two instances they were clear as day. It was soooo neat. I always feel like I'm going to start crying at ultrasounds. :) The only disappointment was that I was hoping we would find out genders early. Usually it is at 18 weeks, but sometimes they can tell at 14 weeks. We think she had an idea but didn't want to say. J looked up at the screen and said "I think that one is a boy" and the technician immediately said, "it could be, look at that" and pointed to a little something on the screen. It could have been something ELSE but it definitely seemed like she was thinking it was a boy with her immediate reaction to J's comment. Then she was referring a couple of times to the other baby with "she" so we don't know if that was a guess or if she was using it generically.

I have to say, my heart flipped (in a good way) when she pointed and said it could be a boy. I don't know how anyone could NOT find out early and just wait for delivery. That moment was amazing to me, to even think we MAY know. I can't even imagine what it will be like to finally put more of an identity to Baby A and Baby B. To give them names, to talk about them as real little people who will enter our lives for Christmas this year. It sounds odd since we didn't even find out the genders for sure, but even getting that guess made me realize what a magical moment it is going to be when we know.

I will have to post the pics later - I'm exhausted due to all the time changes, but I promise to put them up soon!